Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Pretty self-explanatory
sweetest punch
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Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by sweetest punch »

This showed up on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Unfaithful-Music- ... s+costello

Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack Album
Audio CD (October 9, 2015)
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Ume
ASIN: B014K8FLTM

The release date and the titel indicate that this is a release that coincides with the new book.
Ume is a catalog label.
My guess is a new "Best Of" album.
Last edited by sweetest punch on Thu Sep 03, 2015 5:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: New "Best Of" album for Oct 2015?

Post by And No Coffee Table »

A "soundtrack album" for a memoir seems like as good a place as any to put out some pre-fame recordings. How about something by Rusty?
sweetest punch
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Re: New "Best Of" album for Oct 2015?

Post by sweetest punch »

Indeed, it problably must be the "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album", containing the songs he writes about in his new book.

From the press-release of his new book:

"The memoir, written entirely by Costello himself, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best known songs and the hits of tomorrow. The book contains many stories and observations about his renowned co-writers and co-conspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations on the less appealing side of infamy."

This may also explain why the song "I Can't Turn It Off" recently was registered at ASCAP: http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... &p=7720639
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
cwr
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

I'm almost always get my hopes up way too high about stuff like this, but I have to say that -- having JUST finished an advance copy of the book tonight-- he does mention a number of unreleased songs and recordings in UM&DI, to the point where it would be very appropriate to put a few out on a release like this.

OR for him to record a quick solo session like his iTunes Originals thing where he performs the most relevant songs that are written about in the book.

I hope it's not just a weird compilation of previously released material, although I can certainly see the purpose of such a thing for more casual fans, to help them get their bearings....
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by Neil. »

cwr wrote: -- having JUST finished an advance copy of the book tonight--
Hi, cwr - is the book a good read, does it offer a lot that we don't already know (but don't reveal what those things are if it does!) and how do you think it will be received by the critics?

Cheers,

Neil
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by erey »

cwr, let me be the first to say it: You're getting your hopes way too high for this; it's just going to be a weird compilation of previously released stuff to help more casual fans get their bearings. :)

Maybe we'll get a excerpt of one of the newly reclaimed Rusty demos just for laughs, but I sure wouldn't bank on seeing much of anything new here.
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

Perhaps...

The only reason I say that there *might* be some material of interest on this is that it's TWO discs AND in the book itself there are a number of striking instances where he goes out of his way to reference tracks that have never been widely heard before.

He writes, for instance, about the fairly obscure Toussaint/Costello song "Where Is The Love?" which has only ever been available as an iTunes bonus track available with the purchase of the album only. It also seems possible that, after "Tommy's Coming Home" was included in the TV documentary soundtrack a couple of years ago, that it *could* possibly find its way onto a collection like this, maybe? Those are familiar to hardcore fans, certainly, but neither has had an official CD release, and it's striking that he would write about songs that obscure in the book when there are literally hundreds of more widely available songs he could've mentioned instead. Those are just two examples among many, which makes me feel like they are would at least be in the running for a 2-disc companion release.

NEIL: I think the book is an excellent read, and it offers a mix of things we know and things we don't, but in most cases the familiar stuff is newly phrased, so even if you've read every reissue liner note there is still plenty of new material here, and at least one major aspect (late in the book) that I was completely surprised by. I think it will be well-received although admittedly I am intrigued to read reactions from people who aren't already familiar with the arc of Costello's career. He jumps around a bit, so, for instance, if you didn't know that the full story of how and why The Attractions broke up and then re-united and then broke up again and then 2/3rds of them became The Imposters, you might not leave with a clear picture of that the way you would with, say, a certain bass player's book. I think Costello mentions The Imposters at one point long before he explains who they are, for instance, so a casual reader might wonder at certain moments what happened when. But that doesn't seem to be Costello's intent, to lock down a 100% clear narrative of every single event that happened, in order-- instead there is an overall arc with a lot of interesting digressions or flash-forwards to things that happened later on that tie in to moments earlier in his life. It has the flow, in a lot of places, of the way people actually tell stories, where something occurs to them and they veer off for a bit and then snap back to the part they were saying before...
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by Neil. »

Okay, cool - thanks for the info!
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by sulky lad »

I'm with Erey about this - I can't see it being much more than a Greatest Hits compilation with maybe one or two oddities on the 2nd disc . I am looking forward to reading the book though probably whilst listening to one of the Attraction albums on vinyl :wink:
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

In a world where Costello no longer actively makes records (unless invited by someone else, a la The Roots or The New Basement Tapes) and the archives are no longer being mined for treasures (since Hip-O blew it with the glut of 1977-79 live recordings and the overpriced box set), I would consider the inclusion of a Rusty-era demo or 1 or 2 oddities on disc two a mark in the WIN column on this release.

If it truly is the "soundtrack" to the book, then I'd be surprised if it was just Greatest Hits, because while he does talk about SOME of his most famous songs, he also spends a lot of time talking about unreleased or barely-released songs. And I'd assume that the second a companion CD was broached, Costello had strong opinions about its sequencing. Maybe that's greatest hits, but I'll bet there are some curveballs in there even if it is.

There is at least one previously released song that I would not have expected him to devote quite so many pages to in the book, and I'm kinda curious to see if it makes the track listing for this. Even though it's not a "rare" track, it's not one that most casual fans have probably heard, and it's one that I think people will want to listen to after reading about it.

The natural (and most likely correct) skepticism that this CD would or could be anything surprising is a sad commentary on how much things have changed since the 90s and even early 00s, when EC's pattern of releases was so exciting that he actually managed to double-dip the first decade of his back catalog in a way that fans actually LIKED instead of resenting having to buy the records again. Compilations like "Rock & Roll Music" and "In Motion Pictures" were so weirdly put together -- inessential collections that didn't attract new listeners AND had nothing to offer longtime fans, they felt like they were designed for no one to buy...

Although I guess even back in the heyday, Costello tended to keep releasing his "greatest hits" again and again, so this would be just another entry in the long parade of "Very Best Ofs" he's put out!
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by The Gentleman »

My guess for a rarity that could appear is "Radio Soul." Especially if the set is meant to highlight aspects of EC's personal biography, as it could neatly represent his Flip City years. Furthermore, it's a song that has become a mainstay of his solo set, and he even recently mentioned that he has come to prefer it to "Radio Radio." Plus if it's sequenced next to "Radio Radio" it sort of tells a story all by itself.

Of course, I haven't read the book. So take that for what it's worth. Does he mention the song at all, Connor?
Last edited by The Gentleman on Tue Sep 01, 2015 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
erey
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by erey »

I'm actually starting to coming around to seeing it cwr's way, especially wrt "barely released", rather than truly unreleased, material. I think it's the oddly off-handed way this is being handled -- five weeks from release and it still hasn't been announced; the amazon.com listing is probably just some technical database requirement -- makes me think we should keep expectations low for this, whatever it is.

In any case, thanks, cwr, for the excellent, non-spoilery summary of the book.

I still don't want any spoilers, but I can't help being curious... EC was originally contracted to write two books. The one he came up with is about double the average narrative book's page count, has an oddly bifurcated and ampersanded title, and is apparently going to be accompanied by a 2-CD "soundtrack". Is there any indication -- under the surface or otherwise -- that is is two books published as one?
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Maybe Unfaithful music is the first book and Disappearing ink is the second...

...or it could be that this is only one of the two books and Unfaithful ink and Disappearing music is the title of book two!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

It does NOT feel like 2 books in one. I think EC is just naturally the type who would write a book and have it end up way longer than he'd anticipated. I'll bet if he'd had a few more months to write it he would have doubled it in length again!

I bet his 2nd book will be more focused on his thoughts about music. Obviously there is a lot of that in here but it's focus is really on his life and experiences, but I'll bet he could fill a whole book JUST featuring his ideas and theories and opinions, etc.

Like, I'll bet he could expand his Vanity Fair lists into full books where he writes at length about each record or musician or band....
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by erey »

Thanks, Connor. I couldn't help wondering, especially since that stated page count from the publisher literally doubled overnight. Admittedly, I think the originally page count was notional, since I noticed many "upcoming" books have that exact page count (352 pages).

I haven't heard anything about EC doing two books in a long time, and I suspect that 11 years and several corporate mergers and divestitures later, there's no contractual obligation on either side to produce a second one. Looking back over the main thread here about the book, I see EC was originally signed to Simon and Schuster, but his book is now coming out on Blue Rider Press, which is an imprint of Penguin and has no corporate relationship to S&S. The only constant is David Rosenthal, who signed EC to S&S, but is now head of Blue Rider and still seems to be personally involved in working with EC.
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

I think if this book does well, it'll trigger a follow-up book pretty quickly, much like how the surprise success of SP&SC prompted EC to almost immediately write and record a double album.
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by verbal gymnastics »

How quick is quick in book writing circles?
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erey
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by erey »

I agree, Connor, and I suspect EC might have already gone a long way toward writing a second book while working on this one.

Maybe we'll get another "soundtrack" while he's at it. :)
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Perhaps this is just the audio version of the book?
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by erey »

sheeptotheslaughter wrote:Perhaps this is just the audio version of the book?
Nope. That would be this: http://www.amazon.com/Unfaithful-Music- ... 161176470X

(There's also a more convenient and likely cheaper downloadable version noted on the publishers sites, but it's not on Amazon yet.)
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
cwr
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

Disc: 1
1. Accidents Will Happen
2. Poison Moon
3. Watching The Detectives
4. Oliver's Army
5. Riot Act
6. New Lace Sleeves
7. Man Out Of Time
8. I Want You
9. When I Was Cruel No.2
10. Stranger In The House
11. Beyond Belief
12. Home Truth
13. Indoor Fireworks
14. Shipbuilding
15. Cinco Minutos Con Vos
16. Bedlam
17. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
18. Ascension Day
19. Red Cotton

Disc: 2
1. Veronica [demo]
2. In The Darkest Place
3. I Want To Vanish
4. My Dark Life
5. The Other Side Of Summer
6. London's Brilliant Parade
7. Ghost Train
8. Suit Of Lights
9. Jimmie Standing In The Rain
10. The Birds Will Still Be Singing
11. Wise Up Ghost
12. Almost Blue
13. All The Rage
14. Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4
15. Alison
16. My Three Sons
17. I'm In The Mood Again
18. April 5th
19. I Can't Turn It Off
cwr
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by cwr »

Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack Album is a compilation underscoring Elvis Costello's new memoir 'Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink,' compiled and sequenced by Costello himself to offer the deepest emotional connection of the themes and stories of his book.

This 38-track, 2-CD set contains a selection of hits and Costello's favorite songs, including two previously-unreleased titles; 'April 5th' - written and recorded with Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson and John Leventhal - and one of Costello's earliest solo recordings, 'I Can t Turn It Off' from 1975.

The collection also features three exclusive 'audio book sketches' - that do not appear in the published memoir - and a 28-page booklet providing the complete lyrics and many unseen photographs, several of them from the MacManus family album.
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by And No Coffee Table »

So one "previously unreleased" track was posted on SoundCloud two years ago, and the other was partially heard in the Mystery Dance documentary. Still, it looks like an interesting compilation, and I like that it gives a fairly even-handed view to his whole career.
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Re: Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack album, Oct 2015

Post by bronxapostle »

If he plays April 5th on November 10th in Brooklyn, I will buy this right away. Otherwise, I will wait until I get it for two bucks. Is it a studio recorded or Spectacle take on April 5th???
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